According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the current economy, Americans shift jobs every 4-5 years, which translates into 8-10 job transitions, including several career changes, over one’s life time. With competition for jobs on the rise, a person’s continuing employability and career success are increasingly defined by his or her mastery of individual career development and the ability to effectively "manage oneself" (P. Drucker).
In this course, you will learn how to think strategically and professionally about your career self-management. Through this course you'll develop an objective, external view of your marketable skills as a solid foundation for building a strong career brand. In particular, you'll be able to:
- explain why developing a protean and boundaryless career perspective based on transferable (portable) skills is advantageous for continuing employability and career growth;
- design your portable skills portfolio, identify and examine critically important competencies underpinning your transferable skills, and analyze your career self-management competency gaps;
- increase self-awareness, pinpoint your career goals, and envision your future work self;
- recognize the central role of self-management for developing transferable, marketable, skills and create a customized self-management information system (Career Development Lab) for ongoing personal development and professional growth;
- conduct a thorough, competency-based job analysis in your area of interest and examine practices of evidence-based, data-driven competitive employee selection;
-implement your newly developed skills for crafting effective selection criteria statements and refining your job applications.

From the lesson

Getting Started

To achieve a competitive edge on the job market, one needs to stand out by creating, managing, and communicating a strong career brand. The introductory module takes you through all stages of career brand building providing a bird's-eye view of the specialization. By completing Week 1, you'll be able to identify critical factors for career success in today's economy and recognize that building a strong career brand requires a combination of superior marketable skills and a powerful personal image. You will begin developing a personalized self-management information system and set up your Career Development Lab.Your instructors for this week are Amy Giaculli and Val Chukhlomin.